A public body may authorize short-term bonds, including short-term general obligation bonds, that provide for any or all of the following in or pursuant to the bond legislation:

A. principal maturities may be for any one or more periods of two years or less from the respective dates of issuance;

B. interest may be payable on any one or more dates, or at principal maturity;

C. interest may but need not be represented by coupons;

D. the bonds may be in coupon form, in form registered as to principal or registered as to both principal and interest, or in book entry form, and provision may be made for exchange of one form for another;

E. the bonds may be in form with stated interest or in discount form without stated interest, or a combination thereof;

F. the bond legislation may provide for the renewal or refunding of such bonds, at or before maturity, by the issuance or successive issuance of renewal or refunding bonds under that bond legislation without necessity for further act by the governing body, provided that the maturities of such renewal or refunding bonds shall not exceed two years from their respective dates of issuance. In the bond legislation approved by the governing body, the governing body may authorize or direct one or more officers of the public body to:

(1) fix the interest rate or rates for each issue of bonds and renewal or refunding issues, subject to a maximum rate or rates as a stated interest rate or net effective interest rate, which maximum shall be set forth in such bond legislation or determined from time to time in accordance with a formula, index, data or procedure as provided for in the bond legislation, provided that, whether or not such a formula, index, data or procedure is provided for, bond legislation with respect to indebtedness shall set forth stated maximums of net effective interest rates;

(2) determine the discount for bonds with stated interest and for bonds without stated interest, subject to any limitations thereon provided in the bond legislation;

(3) fix the date of such bonds, which may be stated in such bond legislation as the date or dates of issue and which may be a date on or before the respective date or dates of issuance;

(4) fix the maturity date or dates of such bonds, which shall be within minimum and maximum periods described in such bond legislation; and

(5) designate the denomination of such bonds, subject to minimums and integral multiples of stated amounts provided in such bond legislation;

G. the public body may contract with agents or trustees for services in connection with the issuance, transfer, exchange, registration, record keeping for and the payment of such bonds and matters incidental thereto, and the public body has authority to act under such contracts. Without limiting the generality of the preceding sentence, such contracts may provide:

(1) for the maintenance of a supply of bond forms with the agent or trustee, which forms bear the facsimile of all signatures of officers of the public body necessary for the purpose and, if applicable, the facsimile of the seal of the public body, contain blanks as to owner, date, maturity, denomination, interest rates and original issue discount as appropriate, and provide a form of authentication by the agent or trustee upon issuance;

(2) for the officer or officers of the public body, authorized by the governing body to do so, to direct the agent or trustee with respect to the completion of such blanks and the delivery of the bonds, by oral, electronic or written communication prior to the authentication and delivery of such bonds, and that any such oral or electronic communication thereafter shall be confirmed in writing; and

(3) for the establishment with the agent or trustee of funds, in trust, for payment of the principal of and interest on the bonds and for payments by and on behalf of the public body into such funds, including payments thereto from the proceeds of renewal or refunding bonds;

H. notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the public body may contract with banks or investment bankers, or others with appropriate capabilities, to provide services, which may be on an exclusive basis, in the placement of the bonds with purchasers, or to purchase the bonds, or both, which contract may provide for all matters incidental thereto and may be a negotiated contract. Contracts pursuant to this subsection may include services for the placement or purchase of short-term general obligation bonds and, for purposes of Section 6-18-7 NMSA 1978, variable rate demand general obligation bonds;

I. the public body may covenant, in the bond legislation, to the holders or owners of the bonds and to the trustee, if any, for the benefit of such holders and owners, that it will issue bonds to renew, or fund or refund, the bonds and any accrued interest thereon, at or before maturity to the extent not provided for from money otherwise available for the purpose. In addition to other reductions permitted in the levy of property taxes for principal or interest on indebtedness, reduction may be made to the extent that principal or interest thereon is to be covered by the proceeds of refunding or renewal bonds;

J. in addition to the authority to issue bonds for such purposes under the Public Securities Short-Term Interest Rate Act, the public body may, to the extent not prohibited by the bond legislation, retire or provide for the payment at any time of the bonds authorized under that act by the issuance of bonds under authority of any other law consistent with the maturities and other terms authorized by such laws and without impediment or other effect thereunder by reason of previously having issued the bonds under the Public Securities Short-Term Interest Rate Act, except as stated in Subsection B of Section 6-18-10 NMSA 1978; and

K. the provisions of Section 6-18-7 NMSA 1978 may be used with respect to any bonds issued pursuant to this section.

History: Laws 1983, ch. 161, § 6; 1999, ch. 232, § 5; 2005, ch. 158, § 2.

The 2005 amendment, effective June 17, 2005, provided that a public body may authorize short-term general obligation bonds and in Subsection H that notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, a public body may contract for services in the placement of bonds or to purchase bonds and that the contracts may include services for the placement or purchase or short-term general obligation bonds and variable rate demand general obligation bonds.

The 1999 amendment, effective June 18, 1999, in Subsection F, deleted "and no bonds may be issued under authority of a bond legislation more than three years following action of the governing body on that bond legislation unless the governing body further acts to extend such authorization within three years prior to the issuance of such renewal bonds" following "respective dates of issuance"; in Subsection J, substituted "6-18-10 NMSA 1978" for "10 of that act"; and in Subsection K, substituted "6-18-7 NMSA 1978" for "7 of the Public Securities Short-Term Interest Rate Act".